Couture scores winner as Sharks top Sabres

BUFFALO -- Tomas Hertl made an ambitious statement when he said the Sharks needed to grab eight out of a 10 possible points on their five-game East Coast road trip after their win over the Montreal Canadiens on Oct. 17.

The Sharks couldn't quite hit the bar that Hertl set for them, going 3-2 on the trip after picking up a 3-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres at Keybank Center Saturday.

But six of 10 points ain't bad.

Logan Couture broke a 2-2 tie with 3:52 left in the third period, making a world-class play by putting the puck under the crossbar from the lower-left circle as he was taking a hit from behind.

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The goal was Couture's eighth of the season and his fifth of the road trip, giving him six points on the five-game swing. Tomas Hertl and Justin Braun picked up assists on the game-winning goal.

The Sharks tied it up at 2-2 with just 11.6 seconds remaining in the second when Chris Tierney slammed in the rebound of a Melker Karlsson shot from the edge of the crease. Timo Meier earned the secondary assist, getting the play started with a rush around the net.

The Sabres took a 2-1 lead off back-to-back goals from Ryan O'Reilly and Jason Pominville in the second.

O'Reilly snapped the Sharks streak of 21-consecutive kills at 2:55 of the middle frame, going top shelf from above the left circle on the power play after Team Teal took its fourth stick penalty of the game. The Sharks penalty kill had been a perfect 18-for-18 on the trip prior to O'Reilly's goal.

Pominville gave the Sabres the lead 11:56 later, beating Aaron Dell to the near post on a shot from the inner-left circle.

The Sharks opened the scoring at 9:12 of the first when Joonas Donskoi hopped out of the penalty box to find a loose puck in his vicinity after it got past former-San Jose defenseman Matt Tennyson at the Sabres blue line. Donskoi capitalized on the gift from the former-Shark, streaking down the left wing and putting the puck in the top-right corner.

Backup goalie Aaron Dell stopped 31 of the 33 shots he faced.

Dell made a sensational save on Jordan Nolan in the first, using his stick to swat his shot off the goal line after the Sabres forward tried to fire in a rebound off the end boards.

Head coach Pete DeBoer helped Dell's cause by pulling off a successful goaltender interference challenge with 2:48 left in the first. The Sabres power play goal was disallowed after it was ruled that Sam Reinhart's contact with Dell as he skated through the crease thwarted the Sharks netminder's ability to reset himself after Jack Eichel fired a shot off a rebound.

The Sharks will return home Monday for a bout against the Toronto Maple Leafs as Patrick Marleau makes his return to SAP Center.